Storm In The Snow
by waterlooroad9
Summary: Evie is sleeping rough after running away from her foster parents. When she starts at Waterloo Road, who will save her from her past? Expect lots of platonic fluff, deep content, and lots of Rachel and Nikki appearances!
1. Chapter 1

**Storm In The Snow - Chapter One**

Evie stepped out of the shower and reached for her scratched, battered watch. Pulling on her dusty clothes, she tied her hair in a messy bun, dried the excess water from her face, gathered the remainder of her possessions that she'd brought in with her, and wandered out of the shower towards the hall. She sat in an empty seat away from the others, a group of older men and a girl who was having a mild psychotic episode. The volunteers began passing down plates of cottage pie and peas, and Evie ate in silence.

"How's it going, Evie?" Rachel, one of the volunteers, had come to join her at the table.

"S'alright. Bit cold this week," Evie shrugged. "Food's good though."

"Have you been eating okay during the day?"

"Yep. Got bought a coffee this morning and used the cup to collect. Got a few quid for lunch tomorrow."

"That's good to hear. Is there anything you want to talk about tonight?" Evie laughed and raised her eyebrows. "I'll leave you to it then. Just let me know if you need anything. We'll be closing a bit early tonight, about half past ten. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Rachel patted her on the shoulder and went to talk to some other clients.

Evie had been coming to the homeless shelter every night for two weeks now. It was alright there; they made her feel welcome without pressuring her to talk. She got a shower and food every night, and her clothes washed once a week. Evie knew that no matter how much she starved and struggled during the day, between 6pm and 11pm every evening, she would be warm, fed, and safe.

After dinner, Evie sat in one of the armchairs and read a book. She rarely had the ability to read on the streets; she always had to be on guard and ready to defend herself, verbally or physically. She curled up and read 'The Girl With All The Gifts', until she saw the volunteers starting to pack things away.

"See you tomorrow, Evie?" Rachel called, as Evie gathered her few items.

"Yep, haven't exactly got anywhere else to be!" Evie called back, as she left the building and set out into the dark. It was a Monday in late September, and the evenings were getting colder. Evie had a duvet and a couple of other items of clothing, along with some cereal bars, in the doorway of an abandoned shop. The streets of Greenock were quiet tonight, so Evie felt slightly safer. She headed towards her doorway, removed a spider from her duvet, and wrapped the duvet around her. Pyjamas were a luxury she could not afford, and as such, she slept in the leggings and hoodie she'd worn for the past three days. Washing day at the shelter was Friday, and she only had one other pair of leggings and a clean T-shirt to wear under the hoodie. She'd left her foster home in a rush, and hadn't had time to collect anything she might have needed.

Evie must have been asleep for no more than an hour when she was awoken to the sound of a group of drunk men shouting. She snuggled further into her duvet, hoping not to be seen.

"Oi! Trampy!"

Evie kept quiet.

"Oi, you! Come out, come and say hello!" The voices were getting closer now, and her duvet was pulled from around her.

"Oh, do one!" Evie mumbled.

"Bloody waste of space, the lot of them," another group member slurred. "Should teach her a lesson."

"Yeah, alright." the ringleader continued. He pulled Evie to a standing position by her arm. She stumbled, and grounded herself. Evie saw a fist come flying towards her. She defended it, and kicked the man in the groin. Just over two weeks on the streets had taught her that to be able to defend herself was key.

"Ohhhhh! Looks like we've got ourselves a tough nut! Come on lads!" The men advanced, the ringleader taking another punch. This one was defended less successfully, and knocked Evie to the ground. Evie attempted to stand up, but was kicked back by another man. At this point, it was a free for all. Evie was kicked, spat on, and punched multiple times by the men, who's attack subsided once Evie was clearly wounded.

"Disgusting…" mumbled one of the men, as they walked away.

Evie tried to sit up, but felt a sharp pain inside her chest. She pressed down and suspected a broken rib. Blood was trickling down her face. Evie felt a mixture of relief and fear. The men had left her alone, but she was panicking about her injuries. She attempted to staunch the blood flow with her hoodie, which was now becoming crimson-stained from the volume of blood pouring from the cut above her right eye. Going to A&E was not something Evie was prepared to do, because it would mean going back to her old life, her feared life.

Evie was attempting to dry the blood with the bottom corner of her duvet when a woman walked past. The woman initially continued walking away, then turned on her heel, and headed towards her.

"Fuck…" Evie mumbled under her breath.

"Hi, are you okay?" the woman asked.

"I'm fine." Evie replied with an exasperated tone.

"You're not. Here, take this," she said, taking off her cardigan. "It needs to be washed anyway. I'm going to call you an ambulance."

"No, please don't. Please." Evie panicked.

"I have to, I'm sorry. You need to be seen to, you could get an infection. My name's Kelly, okay, and I'll stay with you until the ambulance comes. How did this happen?"

"Some lads walking past, but I'm fine, really." Evie winced as she struggled to sit up.

"Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England…" mumbled Kelly. "Stay still, don't move until we know what's happened." On an ordinary day, Evie would have been grateful for the kindness of a stranger. Since her time on the streets, however, Evie had done her best to stay away from people as much as possible, aside from the volunteers at the shelter, who didn't like to ask too many questions.

"It's a quiet night," said Kelly, as she hung up the phone. "They should only be about ten minutes. I'll wait with you."

"Thanks," replied Evie. "But just so you know, I don't talk about why I'm here, so don't try and make me."

"Okay, okay, calm down. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Kelly defended.

The pair sat in silence until the ambulance pulled up on the side of the road. Two paramedics came towards her with their kit.

"Hi, who's the patient?" the male paramedic said briskly.

"Me, but I'm okay, I think it's a lot of fuss about nothing." Evie sighed.

"Well, we want to have a look at you anyway. Can you tell us what happened?"

"Group of men came and started on me. Cut my eye and kicked me about a bit, one of my ribs is a bit sore, it's fine though."

"It is most definitely not fine. What's your name?"

"Evie."

"We're going to need a bit more information than that, if that's okay. Can you tell me your full name, while my colleague checks your injuries?" Evie thought for a while, deciding whether to be truthful. The female paramedic looked at her cut and felt for her bruised ribs.

"Evangeline Isabelle Green."

"Age?"

"Nineteen."

"And have you been homeless for long?"

"Most of the past six months."

"Are you on any medication or narcotic substances?"

"I wish…" Evie laughed. "No, nothing."

"Right. Jess, what do you think about the ribs?"

"Definitely at least one broken, and that cut is quite deep. I think we should take her in and get an X-Ray and a couple of stitches."

"Do we have to?" Evie sighed. "I'm really okay, I don't need all this fuss."

"Evie, you really need seeing to. So we're going to pop you in the back of the ambulance and get you up to the hospital to be looked at." Evie knew she was fighting a losing battle. She stood up, partially doubled over in pain, and headed towards the ambulance. The paramedics thanked Kelly for staying with her, strapped Evie into the back of the ambulance, and headed towards Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

They arrived at the hospital within fifteen minutes, and Evie was put straight in a bed, which surprised her.

"Quiet tonight," said the female paramedic, picking up on Evie's surprise. "Don't normally get this kind of service, mind!" A nurse came straight over to Evie's bed, and the paramedics left.

"Right, Evie, is it? Let's have a look at these injuries." The nurse began cleaning and stitching the cut above Evie's eye.

"Okay, now that's all cleaned up, I want to run you down to X-Ray to have a look at your ribs, if that's okay?" Evie nodded, understanding she didn't have much choice. She was wheeled to the X-Ray department and the results confirmed her earlier suspicions - a broken rib. Evie was taken back to the acute ward and waited to be discharged by a nurse.

"Evie? I've just got some questions for you," a nurse called, bustling over. "We've looked up your name on our files, but we can't find anyone matching your records.

"Oh…" Evie replied, worried.

"Is Evie your real name?"

"Yes…" stuttered Evie. The nurse raised an eyebrow. Evie knew there was no way she could get out of this one. "But it's not my full name. Evelyn Charlotte Thistle."

"Thank you. We'll go and look you up now and hopefully discharge you within the hour."

Evie lay on the hospital bed, anxious. If they knew her age, then they'd know…

"Evie?"

"Mmm?"

"Your records show you were born in 2004. That makes you fifteen. Where are your parents?" her nurse said.

Evie rolled her eyes. "Dad committed suicide when I was four, Mum left me with the authorities."

"But you told us you were homeless?"

"Ran away from my foster parents."

"What made you do that?"

"Dunno, just didn't really like them." Evie fiddled with the drawstring of her bloodied hoodie.

"Right, well for now, we'll have to call them to come and pick you up. We should be able to find your foster parents' numbers on our system."

Evie sighed, and fought a stray tear threatening to spill out from her sore eye. She thought she'd escaped.

An hour went by and she heard the familiar Scottish brawl of her foster mum. "Evie? What are you doing here?"

"I'm fine, Becky." Evie backed away from her foster mum slightly.

"I'll deal with you later." Becky whispered into Evie's ear. "Wait until Will finds out about this."

"Right," hurried the nurse. "Evie's all fit to go home, she'll need to take it easy for the next couple of weeks and have her cut cleaned every day. The stitches are dissolvable so she won't need to come back in unless there's any complications. I'm a bit concerned that Evie was sleeping rough, though?"

"Oh, she was just being silly. A little tiff gone too far. We'll sort it out, won't we, Evie?" Becky replied, giving Evie a sly, stern look. Evie nodded, and the two left the hospital.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're playing at, Evie?" shouted Becky, once they'd reached the car. "Do you know how much we get paid to keep you? Hell, I don't do it for any other reason. Streets are where you belong, stupid girl. Nobody else would have you. If it were my choice I'd have you straight back out there, but no, you had to go and get yourself beat up, didn't you?" This line of verbal attack continued throughout the ten minute drive home, most of which Evie managed to zone out.

It was just after 4am by the time they arrived home. Will, her foster dad, was waiting, peering behind the curtains.

"Stupid bloody kid," Will mumbled, opening the door. "I thought we'd got rid of her?" he questioned, directing his speech towards Becky.

"Yeah, well so did I." uttered Evie.

"Don't give us that cheek, you piece of shit. Sleeping out on the streets like that, it's disgusting." Will spat. Evie turned to walk upstairs to her bedroom, and Will kicked her in the back of the knee so she fell. The pain in her ribs flared up, and she tried not to cry out.

"Get yourself up to bed, tramp. Oh, and don't think you got away with bunking off too. You're starting at a new school in the morning, Waterloo Road. I want you up and dressed by 7 so you can hoover the house." Evie didn't reply, but headed upstairs. She opened the door to her room, a small, dark space with a tiny window. She'd only spent two nights here, and hadn't yet unpacked her things from her bin bags. A school uniform was hanging on the door, potentially the nicest thing Becky and Will had done for her since she moved, despite the uniform clearly being secondhand and unwashed.

Evie took the blanket off her bed, for there was no duvet. She pulled it onto the floor along with a pillow, not bothering to get changed, and closed her eyes. She had no intention of spending another night here, but that was tomorrow's problem. For now, she slept.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author note: **Hi! So I just wanted to clarify - Evie, Becky and Will are my own characters, everyone else is from WR. I've set WR in Greenock but Rachel is still head - I've essentially picked up the Rochdale school, planted it in Greenock, and got a mix of teachers who I'd have loved to see work together, I'm sure you'll pick it up! Also I hope I've got the school ages right - my Scottish friend has been helping me understand it as I'm from England. Thank you so much to those who have already reviewed, it means so much. - Holly

**Chapter Two**

"Oi, kid! Up, now!" Becky's shrill voice called out. Evie had been asleep for little more than two hours.

"Oh, p*ss off, Becky…"

"Don't you dare disrespect me like that! Get up, I need the house spotless, my mate's coming round later and she doesn't know about you. Move, now!"

Evie groaned. She bit her lip to stop herself saying any more. She'd be gone by the afternoon. Evie pulled on her tatty uniform, and ran a comb through her limp, messy hair. It was once full of thick curls, but those had been taken along with her childhood, left behind in a squalid flat in South London. The tired, worn-out girl headed downstairs to start the hoovering. Becky and Will had gone back upstairs, probably to smoke weed, Evie guessed from the smell coming from upstairs.

Until she had to leave for school at 8:15, Evie cleaned the house as thoroughly as she could. Becky came downstairs and gave her hell over it, but she did her best to brush it off. Grabbing her school bag, she left the house, the door slammed on her by Will as she left. Evie had no intention of going back.

Evie had no directions to get to Waterloo Road, but spotted some other children in the same uniform as her, and decided to follow them. Eventually, she reached a red brick building, sporting the Waterloo Road logo, alongside a flock of rowdy children. Despite her tough exterior, Evie felt vulnerable and isolated in the crowd. Not knowing anyone felt threatening to her, and she had two options - to make herself known from the start, or to keep her head down. She knew that making herself popular would likely land her in trouble, which would ultimately result in her being sent back to her foster parents', so she aimed to keep as quiet as possible.

"Hi, I'm new here," Evie said to a female teacher with short brown hair. "Do I need to go and sign any forms?"

"Hi, yes, if you go up to the headteacher's office she'll be able to register you. I can take you, what's your name?"

"Evie." "Hi, Evie. I'm Miss Boston, and I think I'm your form tutor. You'll have me every morning for registration and I teach PE as well. Do you do any sports?" Evie shook her head. "I'll find you something." Miss Boston remarked as they took the stairs up to the head's office, and knocked on the door.

"New girl for you, Miss Mason. I'll see you in form time, Evie." Miss Boston turned to go back to playground duty.

"Right, lets get you registered…" Miss Mason's voice broke off.

"Rachel?"

"Evie? What- what are you doing here?"

"F*cks sake, I'm not doing this." Evie backed out of the doorway and stomped out of the office.

"Evie? Evie, come on, let's talk this through?"

"I didn't talk then and I don't talk now, so back off!"

"Hey, hang on, nobody says you need to talk, I just want to get you registered."

Evie sighed. "Evie Thistle, fifteen, used to be homeless but now I'm in care, okay?"

Rachel gave her an exasperated look. Evie tried to leave.

"Hey, hey. Listen. I know it's a bit of a shock that you're here and I'm your headteacher, but I'm not going to probe into anything you don't want to discuss. I wouldn't normally do this but seeing as this is a bit of an exceptional circumstance, why don't you go home and we'll try again tomorrow? Have a day to yourself and then tomorrow can be a fresh start, hmm? You're not in any trouble."

Evie gulped. Going home was the last thing she needed, but she couldn't face the day, not with Rachel being her head after seeing her living on the streets.

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

"Good. See you tomorrow. Come in a bit earlier so we can go through all the paperwork." Rachel sighed as Evie headed down the stairs. She'd always liked her at the shelter, and had accepted that she didn't like to talk, but something had changed now she knew she was younger. Rachel saw beyond the hardened exterior and understood that there was a deep fragility in the thin, young girl.

Evie turned left out of the school gates and walked. She didn't know where she was going; just away from here. She eventually stumbled upon a small coffee shop, and bought herself a black americano with the change she had left from the night before. She sipped it slowly, and read the book she'd been carrying with her to read at the shelter.

A couple of hours went by and Evie felt she was overstaying her welcome. She'd finished her coffee and it was approaching lunch time, but she had no money left to buy food. She got up and wandered around Greenock for a while. Evie enjoyed walking, as it helped clear her mind. She walked for hours, stopping every now and again to sit on a park bench and read a little more.

Darkness soon fell and Evie needed to find somewhere to settle for the night. Sleeping on the streets felt daunting to her, following her attack, so she looked for somewhere in a park, all of which were occupied by dog walkers and teenagers. She didn't want to be there. Checking her watch and seeing it was now nearing 8pm, Evie argued with herself that the teachers and staff at school must have gone home by now. She headed purposefully back towards the school, and began to look for somewhere to sleep.

Naively, she hoped some part of the school might be unlocked, but she was unsuccessful. Instead, she found a little alcove by the bin store, next to what she assumed to be the canteen. The bins didn't smell too bad, and she decided this was as good a place as any to pitch up for the night. It was slightly warmer tonight, so Evie was able to keep warm by cuddling her school bag close to her, and pressing herself against the door.

Sunrise came sooner than Evie would have liked. She ran her fingers through her hair and pulled it into a messy bun. The thin figure gathered her few belongings and darted out of her corner, and darted cautiously out of the school gates. It was 7am, still too early to be in school without being questioned. She ambled around town for an hour, and then made her way back to school, and upstairs to the headteacher's office, knocking on the door.

"Come in." a soft voice called. "Morning, Evie."

"Morning." Evie mumbled. Her guard was back.

"Right, let's try this again shall we? I'll just go and get the paperwork from Bridget."

Evie looked around the office. It was spacious, with a desk in one corner and a round table in the centre. Evie took a seat on one of the soft chairs next to a small table for making tea and a bookshelf.

"Okay, so let's start with some basic details. Evie…?"

"Thistle. Well, Evelyn Charlotte Thistle."

"Date of birth?"

"20th March 2004."

"Address?" Evie gave Miss Mason her foster parents' address and contact details, even though she knew she wouldn't be back there any time soon.

"Okay, Evie. So, were you taking your National 5's at your other school?"

"No, GCSEs. I moved here from London."

"Ah, right, okay. In that case, I think we're going to have to move you down into S3, as you're joining a bit late to take the Nat 5 exams. So you'll be in our equivalent of Year Nine. Is that alright?"

Evie wanted to kick off. She didn't like being the new girl, let alone one in the year below.

"Fine. Don't suppose I have much choice do I?" Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, well, I'll go and get your timetable printed out and I'll take you to your first class." Rachel took the freshly printed timetable from the printer by the door. "You've got form time with Miss Boston first, I think you met her yesterday? And then you've got English with Mr Clarkson. It's okay that you haven't read the texts, I'll pop a message to Mr Clarkson and he'll be able to get you a copy of the books. Come on, let's go over to your form room." Evie slung her backpack over her shoulder and followed Miss Mason down the stairs.

"Evie, hi!" welcomed Miss Boston. "You're a bit early, but come and take a seat, unless you'd rather wait outside?"

"I'm fine here." Evie grumbled.

"If you need any help with anything, you know where to find me, Evie," Miss Mason said. "Nikki, can I have a word?" The two teachers left the classroom and pulled the door to.

"I'm a bit concerned about her, I was wondering if you could keep an eye on her, seeing as she's in your form." Miss Mason spoke quietly.

"Yeah, sure, anything in particular I should be looking out for?"

"I dunno… So you know I volunteer at the homeless shelter some nights? Well, Evie was one of our clients, she'd lied about her age, I've only just found out she's 15. She's back with her foster parents now, but if you could look out for anything unusual or concerning, that would be great."

"Course," agreed Nikki.

"And could you let me know if you do see anything? I just feel like there's more to her than she says."

"Yeah, yeah, you'll be the first to know."

"Thanks, Nikki, I appreciate that. Have a good day." Rachel gave Evie a final glance before heading towards her office.

The other children began to arrive in small groups. Evie had sat at a table in the back corner of the room, and nobody sat next to her, or paid her much attention for most of the day. That was how she liked it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Two weeks had passed since Evie had started at Waterloo Road. She slept behind the canteen every night, and had managed not to be spotted. Evie had done her best to keep her head down and avoid going back to her troublesome nature, but it was beginning to prove difficult. After the first week, some of the other children had started to make comments. Evie hadn't been able to wash her uniform, and she wore it at night too. Despite showering in PE, the uniform stayed smelling of the bin shelter and over-wear.

"Smelly freak." some of the kids whispered at her. "Don't your parents own a washing machine?" a particularly nasty girl with red hair shouted at her across the hall one morning.

"Rhiannon, shut up, I heard she's in care." defended another girl.

"Probably because she stinks so much." Rhiannon mocked, and the group sniggered. Evie bit her lip to fight the tears. It wasn't how she wanted to start her new school, but she had no choice.

Once the teasing began, Evie started to become braver. She snuck a girl called Scout's deodorant into her bag during PE, and some chewing gum from a boy, Denzil, in Maths. Nobody took any notice of this, so Evie decided to step up her game. During a Food Tech lesson, while Rhiannon was in the store cupboard looking for some lentils, Evie, at the back of the room, slid Rhiannon's hoodie from her tote bag to her own worn-looking black backpack. It was getting colder at nights, and Evie was in need of extra layers. She thought she'd got away with it, until the end of the lesson. As the class were scuffling down the corridors towards their respective lessons, Evie heard Rhiannon screeching.

"Oh, for god's sake, me hoodie's been nicked!" Evie darted into the toilets so she wouldn't be suspected, waited until Rhiannon's screeching had died down, and quietly carried on with her day.

Later that afternoon, Nikki went to visit Rachel in her office, having heard Rhiannon and others' complaints.

"Nikki, hi, come in, have a seat." Rachel gestured. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, um, I just thought I should let you know there's been a few accusations of stealing in my form. Rhiannon's lost her hoodie and Scout's deodorant went a couple of days ago. I've heard from Tom that Denzil's had a couple of bits taken too. I was wondering what to do about it; I could really value some advice." revealed Nikki.

"Of course. Well, I think we should call a school assembly in the morning and address stealing, maybe run an amnesty in my office?" Rachel suggested.

"Sounds great. I'm happy to lead it with you, seeing as a fair bit of it seems to be coming from my form group."

"Thank you Nikki, that would be really great."

The day passed with little further fuss. As the final school bell rang, Evie set off for her usual walk around Greenock before heading back to school, where she snuggled in her corner with Rhiannon's oversized hoodie for additional warmth.

The following morning, Evie was called into assembly alongside the others.

"But Sir, we haven't got an assembly today, assembly day's on Fridays." shouted Bolton.

"Well, Miss Mason wants to speak to you all. Go inside, quietly, Bolton." Mr Clarkson called back.

Evie followed the troops into the hall and took a seat near the back, shuffled down in her seat.

"Okay, can I have some quiet please?" Rachel announced, with Nikki stood at her right side. "Miss Boston came to me yesterday with reports that some things have been going missing, especially in S3. We take accusations of stealing very seriously at Waterloo Road, because there's nearly always another reason why someone might be taking things. Now, I don't want to call anyone out in public, but I'm going to hold an amnesty in my office all day. Anyone who might have taken something can bring it to my office at any time today and we can work through it. But, stealing will not be tolerated here. This is your chance to do the right thing for yourself and for the school. Am I clear?" A mumble of acknowledgements echoed around the hall.

"Good. Now, please get on with your classes and have a good day." The hall slowly cleared, and Evie prayed the redness she could feel in her cheeks would dissipate before anyone noticed. She couldn't hand anything in - she needed everything she took. Nobody had any reason to suspect her, she argued with herself, and thus continued with her day, head down, and quiet.

It was 8pm, and Rachel was working late on a Head's report. She'd had a busy day, and hadn't had chance to get it done. With nothing to do tonight, and living locally, Rachel had decided that it was worth staying late to avoid the stress of doing it at home. She signed off the report, printed a copy to be posted in the morning, packed her bag, and locked the office door. As she came downstairs, she heard movement in the canteen. Grabbing her keys as a weapon, Rachel moved stealthily in the direction of the canteen, and was surprised to see Maggie cooking.

"Oh, Maggie, you gave me such a fright! What are you doing working so late?" gasped Rachel.

"Oh, don't get me started. We've got that new oven being fitted in the morning, so I'm trying to get as much done as possible now. I've left Grantly in charge of the kids, so God knows what I'll be coming home to!"

"Well, let me give you a hand, huh? What needs doing?"

"Ooh, well if you wouldn't mind, could you pop these bin bags outside? You'll see where it goes." Rachel put down her bag and grabbed two black bin bags, and strode towards the back door.

Evie heard the door open behind her. Sh*t, she thought, her heart pounding in her ears. She rose to her feet, not looking at who was behind her, and ran. Evie felt a hand grab at her, and screamed.

"Evie!" cried Rachel. "Evie, stop, stop running. What's going on?"

Evie tried to break free of Rachels grip on her arm. She couldn't go through this again - not being returned to her foster parents, nor facing the embarrassment of sleeping by the bins. Avoiding eye contact, Evie wriggled and pulled, but Rachel had a tight grasp on her.

"Maggie! A little help here, please!" shouted Rachel.

"Ugh, for f*cks sake!" shouted Evie.

"Evie, Evie, stop. Stop. It's okay. Stop running. You're not in trouble. Stop." Rachel spoke softly but sternly. Evie gave one last attempt at escaping Rachel's grip, but conceded. She turned to Rachel, a desperate and exhausted look in her eyes.

"Come on, let's get you inside." Rachel put an arm around Evie and shepherded her into the canteen.

"What's going on?" Maggie questioned, a carrot half-peeled in her hand. "Who's this?"

"Er, Maggie, this is Evie. I think we need to have a little talk, do you mind?" replied Rachel.

"'Course not. Do you want me to go, or…?"

"No, it's okay." Rachel sat at a table in the canteen, Evie opposite her, her head in her hands.

"Evie, why don't you tell me what you were doing sleeping outside the canteen?" Rachel said soothingly.

Evie refused to speak.

"Okay, so how about you tell me how long you've been sleeping there?"

Evie stared at the floor, took a deep breath, and flipped her hair from her face.

"Two weeks."

"Since you started here?" Evie nodded.

"Okay, Evie, thank you for telling me. I take it you aren't able to go home tonight?" Evie looked away, tapping her leg and fiddling with a stray thread on her school jumper. She shook her head slowly.

"Let me see what I can do." Rachel left Evie at the table and went into the main kitchen.

"Maggie? Have you got any rooms left in the school house?"

"We've got the guest room, but nobody's visiting for a while. Does the poor lamb need a place to kip?"

"If it's okay, I'd like to have a chat to her first, but I think so. Would it be okay for us to chat at the school house? It just means that it's somewhere safer to, you know, storm off to if she needs to."

"Absolutely. Let me just pop these veg in the fridge and we'll head over there." Maggie replied, gathering her meal prep. Rachel returned to Evie, who was still playing with her jumper.

"Evie? Do you want to come with me? We're going to go back to the school house. Mrs Budgen has a spare room you can stay in, but I thought we'd have a chat first. Do you want to go and get your things and we'll pop over in my car? Mrs Budgen is coming too."

Evie sighed, scraped her chair back, and trudged through the canteen, slung her bag over her shoulder, picking up Rhiannon's hoodie that she'd been using as a blanket. She followed Rachel out to her silver Audi, slamming the passenger door behind her.

"Put your seatbelt on, Evie." Rachel instructed.

"I'm not putting my f*cking seatbelt on!" Evie snapped. Rachel shot her an uncompromising stare, and Evie sighed loudly before clicking it into place.

Evie remained silent during the short drive to the school house, Maggie following in her car.

"I'll go in first," reassured Maggie as they arrived. "I'll clear the lounge and you can have it to yourselves for a chat." Evie and Rachel stayed outside, Evie awkwardly shuffling her feet. Shortly after, Maggie beckoned them inside, and showed them to the living room.

"I'll be in the kitchen if yous need us." said Maggie quietly, closing the door on Rachel and Evie. Evie had slouched on one of the sofas, her head resting on one hand.

"So," started Rachel, sitting on the sofa opposite Evie. "Talk to me."

Evie remained silent.

"Come on. You can either tell me, or I can phone your foster parents and ask why you've not been home for two weeks-"

"Don't." interrupted Evie. "Please, don't."

"Then tell me, Evie. Tell me what's going on." Rachel pleaded.

"We just don't get on, okay?"

"Evie, fifteen year old girls don't sleep in bin shelters for two weeks just because they don't get on with their foster parents." insisted Rachel. "Please, let us help you."

"Look, I'm fine, I don't need your help." remarked Evie. "I've managed this far on my own."

"But you're not on your own anymore. We want to help you. Tell me." Evie crossed her legs and picked at a cushion.

"I can't say, Miss."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to go back there."

"You don't have to, love. You can stay at the school house and we'll sort this all out."

"You promise, Miss? You can promise I won't have to go back there?"

"I promise."

Rachel watched as Evie tried to gather her words.

"My foster parents… they're-, they're not very nice people. They… it's just not very nice."

"How so, love?"

"They… they've, you know, they shove me about and stuff. Get me up at all hours to do stuff. Hit me and… yeah, some other stuff. Make me feel like sh*t on purpose, I got sick of being there, so, yeah, I left." Evie was biting her lip hard to fight tears.

"Oh, Evie." sighed Rachel, coming to kneel in front of her. "This is where it stops, okay? I promise you are safe here." Evie nodded. "Now, you're going to stay here tonight, okay? And we'll sort everything out in the morning, but right now, you need a shower and some sleep. Come on, let's go and see Mrs Budgen and get you settled into your room." Evie got up to follow Rachel to Maggie's office.

"Evie?" Rachel said.

"Yeah?"

"You've been really brave. Not many adults I know would be brave enough to do what you've done." Evie made a noise that sounded close to a laugh, and played with her shirt sleeve.

Rachel and Evie appeared at Maggie's office door, who had a towel, pyjamas, toothbrush, soap, shampoo and conditioner ready for Evie.

"Come on, pet. I'll show you around upstairs. Everyone else is in their rooms." Maggie began to lead Evie upstairs.

"I'd best be getting home. Thanks for taking her, Mrs Budgen. I'll catch up with you tomorrow, okay, Evie? Have a good night." Rachel closed the front door quietly as Maggie showed Evie to her room and the bathroom.

Letting warm water pour over her for the first time in over two weeks, Evie allowed the tears she'd fought all evening to spill out from her deep blue eyes. She sat in a curled up position on the floor of the shower, silently sobbing. Evie couldn't believe these people were showing her so much kindness, and felt so much fear over what was to come.

Feeling too exhausted to function any more today, Evie pretended to be asleep in bed when Maggie came in to check on her later that evening. Once she had left, Evie took the soft duvet onto the floor and curled up under the desk. She felt safer there.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

The following morning, Evie dressed quickly and sat in her room, trying to catch up on homework. Shortly after she'd got her Maths book out, she heard Maggie knocking on the door.

"Morning pet, breakfast's downstairs."

"Not hungry." mumbled Evie. Maggie opened the door.

"Come on, love, you need to eat something. Just have a slice of toast or something, eh?" Evie snapped her book shut, and stomped downstairs behind Maggie.

"Ugh, what's that thieving skank doing here?" Rhiannon shouted.

"Rhiannon! I won't have that kind of language in my boarding house!"

"Well, she's the one who's been stealing all our stuff, everyone's talking about it. She's so grim. Just because her parents don't love her enough to bother sticking around she thinks she has the right to take all our stuff!"

Evie flew out of her seat, ran towards Rhiannon's table, and poured Rhiannon's cup of coffee over her in a rage.

"Evie! Rhiannon, upstairs, now!"

"But, Miss, I haven't even done nothing!"

"Well, let me be the judge of that. Go!" Maggie turned to Evie. "And you, get in my office, now!" Evie rolled her eyes and trudged into Maggie's office.

After clearing up the mess in the dining room, Maggie came to sit with Evie in the office.

"Look, pet, I know things are tough at the moment, but that does not give you the right to lash out and throw hot drinks over other people. Rhiannon could have been hurt."

"Good, serves her right." sneered Evie.

"Evie, we can't have this sort of behaviour. Now, I know Rhiannon can be difficult at times, but you've got to reign in your emotions a bit more." "Me? Reign in _my_ emotions?! She's the one that started shouting crap at me in front of everyone!" Evie was stood up at this point.

"Sit down, Evie." warned Maggie. Evie threw herself back into the chair.

"I'm gonna f*cking deck her one next time she shows her face."

"Right, that's it. I'm calling Miss Mason." Maggie began punching numbers into the office phone. "I can't have this going on, not here. Hi, Rachel, it's me. We've got a bit of a situation regarding Evie and Rhiannon." They continued talking.

"Miss Mason's on her way over. Can I trust yous to stay here while I go and get everyone ready for school? Because I can go and get Grantly to sit here with yous, I know he won't stand for any nonsense."

"No, Miss, I'm fine." Evie snapped.

"Good. I'll be back in a tick."

Five minutes later, the doorbell to the school house rang, and a few seconds later, Rachel appeared at the office door. She was carrying a Tesco bag, which she handed to Evie.

"I was rather hoping to give you these on better terms. What's going on?"

Evie opened the bag, and there were pyjamas, a couple of vest tops, a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt, all in her size. She felt tears threatening to coat her eyes, and swallowed them down.

"Thanks, Miss. Rhiannon gets on my wick."

"Well, people get on my wick every day, and I don't throw hot drinks over them." Rachel came to sit closer to Evie. "Evie, we can't have this. Maggie's trying to run a school house here, and believe me, she won't tolerate bad behaviour. What made you do it, hey?"

"She was saying stuff about me in front of everyone, and it p*ssed me off."

"Why did you throw the drink over her?"

"Well, you know. Gotta defend myself, and stuff."

"But Evie, you don't have to anymore. Not here." Evie looked away.

"Yeah, well, you know. It's just what I know." Rachel gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Come on. Get your bag and your shoes, and I'll drive you to school. Let's avoid putting Mrs Budgen through another fight before school's even started." Evie scuffled out the office door, put on one of the vest tops Rachel had bought her under her uniform, pulled on her black trainers, and stuffed her books into her bag before following Rachel out to her car.

"Right." sighed Rachel, as they pulled up in the school car park. "I want good behaviour today, please, Evie." Evie was staring out the window. "Evie, are you listening?"

"What? Yeah."

"Good behaviour, please. I'll come and find you at some point today and we can have a talk about your foster parents."

"Oh, Miss, do we have to?" Evie presented a defensive front, but was hiding the true fear she felt in talking about it.

"Yes, we need to report them. Go on, have a good day. Keep that head down." Evie slammed the car door shut, and Rachel quietly chuckled. As frustrating as Evie's behaviour was, Rachel saw so much of herself in the young girl.

By the time Evie arrived at form group, it was clear everyone knew what had happened to her. Words like "tramp" and "rank" and "bin-girl" echoed wherever Evie went that day. And she knew who was responsible.

"Oh, hi, Evie, come to throw another coffee on me?" laughed Rhiannon.

"Do one, yeah?" Evie shouted at Rhiannon, and pushed her against the lockers. "Tell all your little friends to get the hell off my back, or there's a lot more where this morning came from!" Evie gave her one last shove before turning her back on the girl.

"Trampy b*tch!" screamed Rhiannon as Evie left.

Evie stormed out of the building, and fled towards the gates. Maggie, who was wheeling a trolley of food towards the canteen, spotted a black-haired figure darting towards the gates, and started running towards her, where she bumped into Rachel.

"Woah, where are you going?" Rachel exclaimed.

"Evie's running off again." gasped Maggie.

"Hang on, I'll take my car. You get back on with lunch." Rachel ran up to the office, grabbed her car keys, and started driving around Greenock looking for the girl.

Eventually, Rachel spotted Evie sat on a park bench, kicking the ground with her heel. Rachel parked the car and headed out towards her.

"It's cold out here. You should come in where it's warm." Rachel sat beside Evie.

"I'm fine."

"Evie, you have to stop this. We need to know where you are, it's not safe for a fifteen year old girl to be walking around on her own all the time."

"Lasted this long, haven't I?"

"You know, I wish you could see that all we want to do is help you." sighed Rachel.

"How many more times do I have to say, I don't need help."

"Okay, well you have to come back to school. I can't just let you go. So how about we have a compromise. Come back to school with me, and you can work in the cooler for the day. Not because you're in trouble, although you are starting to push it a bit, but to keep you away from the likes of Rhiannon, just while it all calms down a bit. How does that sound?" Evie nodded. "Come on then." and Evie followed Rachel to her car.

Evie worked quietly in the cooler for the rest of the day. In last period, Miss Boston was on cooler duty, and was surprised to see Evie there.

"Evie, what are you doing here? You don't normally end up in the cooler?"

"I'm fine." snapped Evie.

"Okay, okay, I wasn't saying you weren't! But you know if you need to talk to anyone, I'm here."

"I wish everyone would just get off my f*cking case…" Evie grumbled.

"Hey, that's a warning. No bad language, thank you." Evie focused her attention on her history timeline, and zoned Miss Boston out.

At the end of the day, Maggie came to the cooler to pick her up. They went back to the school house in Maggie's car, as she was worried about her running off, much to Evie's disapproval. Evie marched upstairs ready to shut herself in her room for the night, but she was stopped in her tracks. Her bedroom door is coated in thick mud, and the words "dirty skank" have been finger-painted into it. She didn't have to think twice about who was involved in this. Evie stormed into Rhiannon's room, and started tearing it apart, ripping things off the walls and sweeping items off the desk. Then, she launched an attack on Rhiannon, who fought back. The two girls were rolling on the floor, ripping at each other's hair, spitting and punching.

"Rhiannon! Evie! What do you think you're playing at?!" Maggie shouted. "Get downstairs, the pair of you!" Evie spat once more at Rhiannon, and followed Maggie downstairs.

"You," Maggie snapped at Evie, "in there. Rhiannon, in the kitchen with Mr Budgen. I'm not having you two together, not in my house." Evie refused to sit down in Maggie's office, and instead paced up and down.

"Hello? Could you come down to the school house, please? It's Evie, again. I know. Thanks." Maggie hung up the phone and put her head in her hands.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do with you girls." sighed Maggie. "Evie, you know we're trying to help you here and you just seem hell bent on getting out. We'll see what Miss Mason has to say. Stay here, I'm going to speak to Rhiannon."

Evie paced around the empty office like a tiger in its cage. She was so angry, yet exhausted. Fighting was too much, though she had no choice but to push on.

"She's in there. I've had it up to here with her, see what you can do." Maggie said in a frustrated tone, as Rachel entered the office.

"Evie, really? Three times in one day? What happened to keeping your head down?"

"She put mud all over my door, Miss! She ain't gonna talk to me like that!" she shouted.

"Yes, I know Rhiannon was out of order, but you have to remember that fighting _will not get you anywhere_!" remarked Rachel. "I honestly don't know what to do with you, Evie. You can't just keep being physically violent, because people will start running out of options. You're lucky Mrs Budgen and I have the patience of saints." Rachel sat, and thought for a minute.

"I'm just going to speak with Mrs Budgen quickly. Stay here." Rachel closed the office door, and went to find Maggie, who was just as exasperated.

"Maggie?"

"Oh, have you managed to talk any sense to her?"

"Not yet, but I was wondering, would it help if I took Evie, just for tonight until we can sort all this out? I don't think she's coping living with so many people, and I thought if I took her so she's on her own, she might be a bit calmer."

"Yeah, if you're happy to. Are you sure yous don't mind?"

"Not at all. I'll go and get her."

Evie heard a knock at the office door.

"Evie?"

"What?"

"Go and collect your things, you're coming with me tonight?"

"Where?" Evie panicked.

"Don't worry. If it's okay, I'm going to take you to mine tonight, give you and everyone else some peace. How does that sound?"

"Whatever…" grumbled Evie, brushing past Rachel to get her bags from upstairs.

Evie was silent on the car ride home. They pulled up outside Rachel's house. It was huge, Evie thought. The outside of the house was a beige colour, with large, glossy marble bricks and roses growing around the porch. As they stepped inside, she was instantly comforted by the smell of fresh linen. Evie followed Rachel upstairs, turning right at the top of the stairs.

"This is the guest room. Sorry, it's not huge. Do you still have the wash things Mrs Budgen gave you?"

Evie nodded, taking in the room. It was the biggest room Evie had ever stayed in. A double bed patterned with red flowers stood in the centre of the room. Two bedside tables accompanied it, alongside a deep oak wardrobe and a matching desk. Evie instantly felt at home.

"I'll just get some dinner on. I'd like you downstairs with me, please. You can bring your homework, if you want, or I've got some books you can read." Evie took her Maths book and a pen from her bag and followed Rachel back downstairs into the spacious, open-plan kitchen/dining room. Rachel set about making a pasta sauce, and Evie sat at the table, quietly puzzling over her homework.

"Dinner's ready, Evie." called Rachel. Evie cleared her homework away, as Rachel brought over bowls of hot pasta in a creamy tomato sauce. Evie picked at her dinner.

"Not hungry?"

"Dunno." Evie took a bigger forkful of pasta, and dropped it down her white school shirt. "F*ck's sake.."

"Oh, never mind, I'll pop it in the wash for you now so it won't stain. You've got a top on under that, don't you?" Rachel started getting washing powder and stain remover out of the cupboard.

Evie froze.

"Evie?"

"Miss, I ain't taking my f*cking shirt off!"

"Hey, calm down. Talk to me. What's going on?" Rachel sat back in her chair and pulled it over to Evie.

Evie lay down her armour, and spoke.

"I've got… I've got, like, scars and stuff. On my arms."

"Oh, Evie. It's okay. I've seen plenty of people who've struggled with self-harm, it's okay."

Evie began to unbutton her shirt.

"So, when I lived in London, there was this group I got with. This, like, gang thing. They had initiations before every time we, you know, nicked stuff. The aim was to get in and out without, you know, dropping any blood they could use as DNA."

"That must have been really hard. I think you're really brave for telling me, though. Thank you."

"For what?" Evie shrugged her shirt off her shoulders.

"For letting me in." Rachel took the shirt from Evie, revealing arms etched with cuts of relative recency. They clearly hadn't been looked after; some were red and indented, others pale and raised. Rachel had an idea.

"Come upstairs with me." Evie followed Rachel upstairs, into her bedroom. Rachel pulled open a drawer in her room, and passed Evie a small bottle.

"So, our school, before we came to Greenock, well, it used to be in Rochdale. There was a fire a few years ago, a man who wanted to get revenge about something. I was quite badly hurt in the fire, and my neck was scarred for a long time. You can barely see it now, but this cream helped bring the scarring down a lot. Keep it."

"Thanks, Miss."

"Put it on before bed and when you get up every day. Oh, and it's Rachel outside of school." Evie smiled.

"Go on, it's getting late. Why don't you get yourself off to bed?"

"Yeah, I will. Thanks, um, Rachel."

"It's no problem." Rachel patted the girl's arm affectionately.

Evie entered Rachel's guest room, closed the door, and flopped heavily onto the bed for a few seconds before sitting up and applying the cream to her scars. She put on the fresh pyjamas Rachel had bought for her, tied her limp, curly hair into a loose bun, removed the thick duvet and pillows from the bed, and fell asleep on the floor.

Before going to bed that night, Rachel knocked quietly on Evie's door. Upon hearing no response, Rachel peered inside. Initially anxious at the notion that Evie was not in bed, Rachel entered the room, and spotted a frail figure inside a mound of duvet on the floor next to the bed. She smiled sympathetically, and pulled the duvet further over the girl so she stayed warm. Evie mumbled appreciatively in her sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **This chapter had a trigger warning for suicidal behaviour and an overdose.

**Chapter Five**

Rachel decided to let Evie sleep late the next morning, as she hadn't had a good sleep for a long while. She worked from home, and texted Tom, asking him to act as deputy. Pouring her second cup of coffee, Rachel sat at the dining table and began answering emails and arranging meetings.

Upstairs, Evie had awoken with a strange mix of emotions. She felt such comfort in waking up somewhere so warm and peaceful, yet a residual feeling of deep dread sat heavily in the bottom of her stomach. She couldn't face this. No, she thought. This was enough.

She sneaked into the bathroom adjacent to her bedroom, quietly closed the door, and started searching the cupboards. Inside, she found three full packs of ibuprofen, and one of codeine. Sneaking back to the bedroom, Evie tore a page from one of her school books, and began to write, simultaneously dry-swallowing the pills.

_Rachel,_

_Thank you so much for doing all this for me. But I'm tired. I can't face this anymore - I can't face seeing the police and having to go back into care. It's too much. I'm tired of running, and not brave enough to fight back. I'm sorry._

_Evie._

Evie felt her eyes begin to close, and her body go numb. She lay back on the duvet, and felt herself sink into a deep sleep.

By 10am, Rachel still hadn't heard a sound from Evie, so decided to go upstairs and check on her. She knocked gently on Evie's door, and, assuming she was still asleep, entered. Rachel spotted the note and the empty medicine packets before she saw Evie lying unconscious on the floor.

"Evie? Oh, Evie, come on, wake up!" Rachel shook Evie gently, and dialled for an ambulance. Shaking, Rachel stayed at Evie's side until the ambulance came, one hand on her back, and the other stroking her hair.

The ambulance arrived, and Rachel hurried them upstairs.

"Evie Thistle, I think she's taken all of them, she's fifteen" Rachel panicked, pre-empting what the paramedics would ask. They put Evie in a stretcher, and carried her out into the ambulance. Rachel sat next to her, holding her limp hand. Arriving at the children's hospital, Evie was rushed straight into a cubicle, and the nurses turned to Rachel.

"I'm sorry, we're going to have to ask you to leave. We need to perform some tests and it's not going to be great to look at." One of the doctors was pulling the blinds down in Evie's room and bustling Rachel out the door.

"Please, please let me stay with her. She needs someone she recognises." Rachel pleaded.

"We'll come and get you as soon as she wakes up. There's a relative's room just down there." the doctor pointed. Rachel moaned and paced down to the small room.

It felt like hours went by before the doctor came to get Rachel. She desperately needed a drink, but was so scared to leave in case Evie needed her.

"Rachel Mason?"

"Yes, hi, how is she, is she okay?"

"She's okay. She's stable, but we're going to need to keep her in overnight for monitoring. She's still asleep, but you can go in and sit with her now, if you want."

"Thank you." Rachel grabbed her bags and practically ran down to Evie's cubicle. Evie was fast asleep, wearing a hospital gown with wires sticking out of her. Rachel pulled a chair over to her bed and took her hand, stroking it softly. Evie twitched, and her eyes began to open. They darted around the room, looking for an escape, and she started pulling at the wires.

"Hey, no, no, no, Evie, you're safe. You're okay. I'm here." Rachel soothed, gently holding Evie onto the bed. "No more running, lovely girl. You're going to be safe now."

"What happened?" Evie mumbled sleepily.

"Darling, you took an overdose, a pretty big one. The doctors ran some tests, and you're going to be okay, they just want to keep you in overnight to observe you. But I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying right here with you."

"It's okay, you can go." Evie replied, half-heartedly.

Rachel smiled. "Enough now, Evie. No more pushing us away. It's all okay."

Evie mumbled that she was still tired and wanted to go back to sleep, in the hope that Rachel would leave her alone. She turned her head away, but she couldn't block the tears that spilled out from her darkened eyes. Trying to cry quietly, Evie buried her face into the pillow, but the tears became heavier and louder. Rachel, noticing, immediately climbed onto the bed and held Evie while she cried. She stroked the hair away from her face, and Evie turned and sobbed into Rachel's arms.

"It's okay, Evie. It's going to be okay."

"It's not okay, Rachel! It's never going to be okay!" cried Evie, clinging to Rachel like a child to its mother.

"Oh, sweetheart, it is. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. It's all okay. Come on, let it all out." Evie didn't care that she was soaking Rachel's top, or that she was so vulnerable. Rachel made her feel safe, holding her tightly, rocking her and resting her cheek on top of her head. Evie didn't ever want to let go.

"I'm so scared."

"I know you are. It's all been so scary for you."

"I can't face this. I can't face any of it. It's all too much."

Rachel continued stroking Evie's hair and rocking her.

"I can't do it. The stuff with my foster parents, the gangs back in London, school, where I'm gonna live, going back into care, I can't do it, Rachel."

"I'm not going to make you do anything you can't do. This is all going to be on your terms, okay? You've been so brave for so long, let us take over for a bit."

"Okay." Evie admitted defeat, and cried harder into Rachel's arms. Rachel held her close, and hummed quietly, soothing the broken girl back to sleep.

When Evie woke, she noticed Rachel missing, and in her place was Nikki. As Evie stirred, Nikki became alert, having previously been half-heartedly scrolling on her phone.

"Hey, Evie, how are you doing?"

"Headache, feel sick, tired. Where's Rachel?"

"I offered to take over so she could go home and get some sleep."

"How long have I been here?

"Just over 24 hours. It's lunchtime, do you fancy anything?" Evie shook her head. At that moment, a nurse came in and started taking bloods and heart rates from Evie.

"Your obs are all looking good. I'm happy to discharge you home, if Miss Boston's okay to take you?"

"Yeah, course. Rachel left you some clothes, she assumed you didn't want to go home in your pyjamas!"

"Thanks, Miss." Evie mumbled, slowly getting herself out of bed. Evie was happy to see Rachel had lent her some sweatpants and a baggy jumper; she couldn't deal with skinny jeans in hospital.

Nikki offered a supportive arm to Evie on the way down to the car, as she was still a bit wobbly from the overdose and from being in bed for over a day. As they neared Rachel's house, Nikki turned to Evie.

"Hey, you know if there's anything you don't feel comfortable talking to Rachel about, you can always come to me? I mean, I am your form teacher, after all."

"Yes, Miss."

"Nikki, outside of school. Come on, let's get you inside."

Rachel had told Nikki where the spare key was kept, and they let themselves in. They could hear no movement, so assumed Rachel was in bed.

"Right, let's get you comfy." Nikki suggested, taking a blanket from the blanket box in the corner of the living room. Too tired to appear her usual tough self, Evie accepted Nikki tucking her in on the sofa, pulling the blanket around her so that the soft material brushed her face.

"Shall we put a film on?" suggested Nikki, bringing Evie a large mug of hot chocolate. "What sort of films do you like?"

"I dunno. I haven't seen a film in years." Nikki felt her heart break at how much this girl had been deprived of normal teenage activities.

"Let's watch Pitch Perfect. I know loads of the girls at school love it." Nikki took the DVD from the shelf in Rachel's living room, and put it on.

Nikki and Evie sat quietly watching the film. Evie felt herself falling asleep again, but pushed through and concentrated on the film. About half-way through, Rachel appeared at the living room door in her flannel pyjamas and towelled dressing gown.

"Hey, you." Rachel said quietly. Evie turned around and smiled at her headteacher.

"Hi." Evie felt unsure of herself - she hadn't seen Rachel since she'd fallen apart on her yesterday evening. Rachel came over to sit on the sofa, moving Evie's legs so she could sit down and placing them back on her lap. She stroked the back of Evie's leg with her thumb soothingly.

"Thanks for picking her up, Nikki, I appreciate it."

"No worries, I didn't mind. I've just introducing Evie to Pitch Perfect." Rachel laughed.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"No, it's okay, I'd best be getting back. Vix got home from her conference about an hour ago, so I'd better go and see her." Nikki started putting on her shoes. "Hey, Evie? You know where I am if you need anything, okay?" Evie nodded.

When Rachel came back into the living room after saying goodbye to Nikki, it was clear to her that Evie was very tense.

"Okay. Tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"What's going on. You seem really on edge again." Evie pondered over whether to say anything.

"I just… It's just that… like, nobody's ever seen me like that before." she mumbled. "And it feels weird, like, knowing you've seen me in an absolute state."

"Oh, Evie. I've seen everything in my time, trust me. You don't have to be embarrassed or ashamed about it. You're going through a really difficult time, and do you know what? I think it's normal to have felt the way you did yesterday. It's normal to want to run away from it all, and just escape. But you can't, okay? You're needed here."

"By who? Nobody wants me around. I just cause trouble and get in the way."

"Not here." smiled Rachel. "You're always welcome to just be yourself here." Evie felt her eyes threaten to fill with tears again.

"Rachel?"

"Yes, love?"

"Can… can I have a hug?"

"Of course you can." Evie wriggled so she was leaning against Rachel, who enveloped her in a warm cuddle. She felt so safe and so loved, and wanted to savour every moment in case it was taken away from her.

At the end of the film, Rachel turned to Evie.

"Eves, when you were asleep, the doctors had a little chat with me."

"Mmm?" replied Evie, lifting her head from Rachel's shoulder.

"They want me to keep a really close eye on you over the next few days, because they're worried you might do something to yourself again. So I'm going to need to check on you quite a bit, and make sure you aren't hurting yourself. Will that be okay?"

"Yeah, don't suppose I have a great deal of choice do I…"

Rachel laughed and rubbed her shoulder reassuringly. "Not really. Do you want to stay on the sofa while I get some dinner on?" Evie nodded. Rachel disappeared for a few moments, and returned with a book.

"I remember from the shelter that you loved reading. This is one of my favourites, if you'd like to borrow it." Rachel passed her a copy of _Room_.

"Thank you, Rachel." Evie snuggled into her blanket, and began to read as Rachel started cooking.

During dinner, Evie was quiet once more.

"Are you okay, Evie?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you still feeling poorly, or are you worried about something, or…?"

"Both." sighed Evie, putting down her fork. "I don't want to go back to school, I can't face it."

"Okay, that's totally understandable. How did you find working in the cooler the other day?"

"It was alright." Evie shrugged.

"Well, how about we do that? We can go in early and then you won't really have to see anyone, and I can bring you some lunch, if you like?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that would be good, thanks." Evie agreed.

"Was there anything else bothering you?"

"Well, I don't know what's going to happen. You know, like, where I'm staying and that."

"Well, I'd need to check with all the relevant authorities, but I'd be happy for you to stay here until things are a bit more certain. How does that sound." Evie nodded, and smiled. "Okay. Why don't you go up to bed and get an early night? I'll come and check on you in a bit."

Evie slowly climbed the stairs to her room, still feeling a little uneasy on her feet. While she was in the bathroom brushing her teeth, she looked, purely out of interest, to see that Rachel had removed all the medicines from the bathroom cupboard, and instead put a sticky-note in their place.

_You're stronger than this. Come and find me if you feel this bad again. R x_

A warm, fuzzy feeling filled Evie's body, and her eyes dampened. So this was what it was like to be loved.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry it's been a bit of a wait - I'm in the middle of writing my dissertation so I'm only getting the odd ten minutes to sit and write this. Please review! :)**

**Chapter Six**

The next morning, Evie awoke to light pouring through the bedroom door. Rachel stood in the doorway, carrying in a cup of tea in one hand and freshly ironed school uniform in the other. Evie rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"Morning, Evie. I've washed and ironed your uniform, what would you like for breakfast?"

"What time is it?" Evie grumbled.

"It's just gone six."

"In the morning?!"

"It's called getting in early." Evie moaned and pulled the duvet back over her head.

"Well, it's nice to see a bit of the old Evie back." laughed Rachel. "Come on, breakfast, what would you like?"

"I don't do breakfast." mumbled Evie from inside the duvet.

"I can't let you go in on an empty stomach. What about some fruit and yogurt?"

"Fine…" Rachel patted the duvet on top of Evie.

"Come on, up you get." Rachel opened the curtains a tiny bit to let some early morning light in, and switched Evie's light on before going downstairs to make Evie some breakfast. Evie lay on the floor buried in her duvet thinking about the day for a while, then begrudgingly changed into her school uniform. When Evie came back from washing her face and brushing her teeth in the bathroom, Rachel was in Evie's bedroom, making her bed.

"You don't have to do that, you know."

"I know." replied Rachel. "But I want to." Evie began picking at the bowl of fruit and yogurt Rachel had brought her as she packed her school bag.

Evie was ready before Rachel, as she had no makeup to bother doing, so she took her bag downstairs and curled up on the sofa with the book Rachel had given her the previous evening. She was already half-way through it.

"Ready to go?" Rachel called from the hallway. Evie sighed and dragged herself up, slinging her backpack over one shoulder. She felt herself drifting back into the normal, angry, grumpy Evie, and her feelings were mixed. She felt more in control like this, but she felt warm and safe yesterday, when she'd let Rachel and Nikki see her so vulnerable. Evie was quiet on the car journey, but Rachel knew not to push her because of how she'd be feeling.

"Right, do you want to come up and sit in my office until school starts and we'll go down to the cooler in a bit?" Rachel said as she locked the car door.

"Actually, do you mind if I go and see Nikki for a bit and then go straight to the cooler?"

"Um, yeah, sure, if that's what you want?" Evie nodded. "I'll get your work brought over for the start of first lesson and I'll bring you some lunch later."

"Yeah, see ya." Evie headed off in the direction of Nikki's classroom, flicking her hair off her shoulder in attempt to look more confident than she felt.

Nikki was sat at her desk, a cup of black coffee in one hand and a red pen in the other, as she sat marking some books.

"Hey, Evie! How you doing?" Evie almost slammed the door as she came to perch on a table near Nikki.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she snapped.

"Okay, well, you're definitely not. Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No, it's nothing… It's just, I really don't want to be here. At school, I mean." Nikki put down her pen. "Rachel's letting me work in the cooler today, but, you know, I can't avoid everyone forever. Like, Rhiannon and her lot."

"I totally understand that. But the important thing is that you keep coming to school and doing your best. And if your best isn't straight A's and perfect behaviour right now, then that's okay. As long as you're trying. It's Friday now, so hopefully come Monday some new drama will have happened and everyone will have forgotten all about it."

"Yeah, I hope so." Evie swung her legs on the table she was sat on. "Nikki? Would you mind, like, if anyone's talking shit about me, would you tell me? I promise I won't go flying off the handle or anything. I just want to, like, know what they're all saying so I can prepare myself."

"Yeah, sure. Just don't tell them you heard it from me."

"Thanks, Nikki." Evie heard the faint sounds of footsteps coming from the corridors. "I'm gonna get going. I'm really not feeling being around people today."

"Alright." chuckled Nikki. "I'm on cooler duty lesson four, so I'll see you then."

"See you later." Evie kept her head down as the left the classroom, and made a beeline for the cooler.

The day passed uneventfully. Evie behaved well, focusing on her work and reading her book when she'd finished. Rachel brought her a sandwich and a cup of tea at lunch time, but had to dash off to stop two Year Eights getting in a fight. At the end of the day, Rachel came to collect her.

"Ready, Evie?"

Evie followed Rachel up to her office as she still had to pack up her own bag. When they arrived, Evie panicked at seeing the school PCSO, Sian, standing next to Rachel's desk.

"Rachel, no, what, what have I done?!" Evie stuttered.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Rachel put an arm on Evie's shoulder. "Sian's just here because we need to give your statement about your foster parents. I didn't tell you because I know if I did, you'd be worrying all day. So I thought we'd get it out of the way now, before the weekend, and then it's all over." Evie nodded slowly.

"Do you want to sit down, Evie?" Sian suggested. Evie shot a fearful look at Rachel.

"It's okay. Sian's lovely, it's okay."

"Miss… Rachel… Will you stay with us?"

Rachel smiled. "If you want me to." Evie nodded, and Rachel came to sit next to Evie on the sofa in the office. Sian pulled up a chair and sat opposite them.

"Okay, so I'm just here to take your statement, and I'll be working with you on the case too. I'm going to ask you some questions, but if you need to have a little break at any time, just say and we'll stop until you feel able to carry on. Now, I'm going to be recording the interview, but the only people who will hear it will be people working on your case. Is that all okay?"

"Yeah, fine, whatever. Can we just get on with it, please?" Evie was bouncing her legs up and down, unable to sit still.

"Okay. So, how long were you with your foster parents?"

"Technically a few weeks, but I only actually spent a couple of nights there."

"And why was that?"

"The first night there was enough to know I weren't gonna be staying long. Second night I stayed so I could nick some cash off them so I'd last on the streets. Then I did one more night after I got out of hospital."

"Okay, Evie, I know it's hard, but what was it like, living with them?" Sian probed.

"Ok, so, um… The first day I got there, they, like, made me deep clean the house. I know that doesn't sound that bad. But it was things like, if I'd missed a bit, I got hit. A lot. I didn't get fed the whole time I was there and they were drunk and stoned most of the time. Dunno how they hid it from the social workers."

"Okay. Was there anything else?" Evie froze, and turned to Rachel, whose eyes were tear-stained at the poor girl's story.

"Um. I dunno… I dunno if I'm ready."

"Evie, the more you can tell us now, the less you'll have to go through later, and the more likely it is that this will never happen again, to you or anyone else." Evie took a deep breath.

"The first night, Will's brother, I dunno his name. He came over." Evie was starting to shake.

"It's okay, Evie." soothed Rachel. "Do you want me to go?"

"No! No, I'm sorry, just, can you stay?"

"Okay."

"So, yeah, he came over. I was cleaning what was meant to be my room, and, um… he…he started taking his clothes off…"

Rachel bit her lip, desperate to cry out and take Evie's pain from her.

"And he… God, you're not gonna make me say it, are you?"

Sian nodded. "I'm really sorry, Evie. I understand it's hard, but I really need you to say it, so it's on tape."

Evie shook the tears from her eyes and played with her school tie.

"He… he pushed me onto the bed and he… raped me." Evie's voice cracked, and she broke down into tears. Rachel put a hand on her shoulder, and Evie fell into her. Rachel caught her, and rocked her gently as she cried. Sian switched off the tape recording and passed the box of tissues on Rachel's desk over to the pair. Rachel continued to hold Evie so she felt safe, and waited until her tears had subsided before turning to Sian.

"So, what happens now?"

"Well, we're going to bring them both into custody, and get hold of the brother. I sincerely doubt that either of them will be seeing daylight for a few years. But, Evie, the important thing is that you are safe now. Nobody is going to hurt you anymore." Sian had knelt in front of Evie now, showing her a reassuring look.

"I'm going to leave you two to calm down and have a chat and I'll catch up with you over the weekend. Is Evie staying with you for now, Rachel?"

"Well, we talked about it last night, and that was what we were hoping, wasn't it?" Evie nodded, sitting up after being slouched in a heap on Rachel's shoulder.

"Great, that should all be fine. I'll phone the social worker later today and let them know, but I can't see it being a problem."

"Thanks, Sian." Rachel patted Evie on the shoulder and stood up to see Sian out of the office.

"Give me a call if either of you need anything, and I'll keep you posted. Bye Evie." Sian gave Evie a small wave as she left the room.

Evie was picking at a mark on the sofa, staring at it determinedly.

"Come on, you. How about we get home and have a quiet evening?"

"Yeah, sure." Evie got up and stared blankly out the window until Rachel had packed her things away. She followed her silently to the car, and remained quiet the whole journey home. Arriving at Rachel's house, Evie spoke for the first time since Sian had left.

"I'm going to my room."

"No, Evie. I'd like you where I can see you this evening, please. I'm worried about you."

"I'm FINE, can we just drop it?"

"Okay, okay, we can drop it as long as you stay downstairs. Do you want to put a film on?"

"I'm just gonna get on with some homework, I think."

"Alright, as long as you work downstairs." Evie scuffed her feet along the polished floors and dropped her bag at the dining table, getting out her maths book. She put her headphones in, turned the music up loud, and tried to get her head into equations instead of everything else that was clouding her mind.

Evie remained quiet for the rest of the evening. Rachel tried to get her to talk, but Evie would either stay silent, or snap at her. She took herself to bed around 10, and Rachel poured herself a glass of red wine. Picking her phone up off the table, she decided to send a text.

_Hi Nikki. What are your plans tomorrow? _

_Nothing much. Need to pick up some shopping and going for a run in the morning. Why do you ask?_

_Evie's just not herself, I don't know how to get through to her. She had a police interview today and it didn't go very well. I was thinking going for a run might do her good, she needs to channel her focus into something. Would you mind taking her with you?_

_Sure, I run early though. See you about 7?_

Rachel thanked Nikki and chuckled to herself. Evie was not going to be impressed at getting up at 7. She finished her wine, watched the late night news, and went to bed, knowing she would have to deal with a very grumpy Evie in the morning.


	7. Chapter 7

**Apologies for the delay lovely people! I'm up to my neck in uni work – final year exams and dissertation – but I love writing this when I'm having a break. Sorry it's left in a bit of a random place, the next bit is quite long so I didn't want to make the chapter too much to read. Also, if you haven't already, I wrote a really short Radam oneshot the other day, please check it out if you can – H x**

**Chapter Seven**

Evie had gone to bed that night looking forward to sleeping late on Saturday morning, as she was still feeling run down following the overdose. Therefore, she was shocked to see a tall, dark-haired figure opening the curtains and throwing clothes at her just after 7am.

"Morning, Evie. Come on, let's go go go!"

"What the…?" Evie grumbled. "Nikki, what are you doing..?" She didn't get to finish her sentence.

"I'm taking you out for a run. We need to get you up and about. I know things are hard for you at the moment, Rachel explained you had the interview yesterday, but I find that the best thing to do in situations like these is to get moving, get running, and get out the house." Evie sighed and lay back down.

"I'm not going out for a bloody run."

"Yes you are. It's quiet outside, nobody will bump into you, it's just you, me and the sea air, and I'm sure Rachel will have some breakfast for you when we get back. We can do a brisk walk if you're not feeling up to a run."

"For f*cks sake…"

"Evie, I'm not leaving this room until you're up. Let's go!" Nikki had adopted her military-style attitude she usually took with the kids who were part of the cadet group, and she had to suppress laughter at the fact that Evie was definitely not used to this kind of caring discipline.

"Does Rachel know about this?"

"She's the one who texted me, so let's show her what you're made of. Come on!"

Evie saw that she wasn't going to get away with this one, so she gathered up the clothes Nikki had thrown at her, and stomped into the bathroom to get changed. Her hair was a mess, and her eyes kept dropping. She gave her face a quick splash with cold water in an attempt to wake up, and trudged back out of the bathroom. Following Nikki downstairs, she saw Rachel waiting by the stairs in her dressing gown, her hair held up in a big clip.

"I can't believe you did this…" Evie growled at Rachel.

"Oh Evie, it's not exactly torture. Go on, it'll do you good, and I'll have breakfast waiting for you when you're back." Evie didn't say anything, but just pulled on her school trainers.

"Evie, you can't wear those." Rachel sighed. "What size are you?"

"6."

"Right, so am I." Rachel rummaged through the shoe drawers by the front door. "Here you go. Size six, and they're a lot better for running than those things." Rachel made a mental note to take Evie to get some new school shoes at some point.

"Ready?" Nikki had her hand on the front door.

"Fine…" The pair set off down the driveway, and Rachel waved them goodbye.

"What's your fitness level like, Evie?"

Evie laughed. "What fitness level?"

"Okay, we'll start slow and see what we can build up to." Nikki and Evie started a fast walk breaking into a jog, heading towards the park. Nikki was surprised at how fast Evie was, despite saying she was unfit.

When they arrived at the park, they stopped for a quick breath of air, and to stretch.

"Right." said Nikki. "See that tree over there?" She pointed towards a willow tree around 100m away. "I want you to sprint to that, as fast as you can manage, and then back again."

"Ugh…"

"Ready, go!" Nikki clapped as if to signal a starting cannon, and Evie broke into a run. She raced across the grass, leaving a trail of kicked mud behind her. Evie didn't stop when she reached the tree, but lightly touched it with her fingertips before flying back towards Nikki.

"That was excellent, Evie!" Nikki patted her on the back as she bent over, catching her breath. "Have you run professionally before?"

"No." Evie replied honestly. "But I've done a lot of running away from people." They both laughed.

"You should make use of that talent you've got. How about we get you on one of the sports teams at school? Myself and Mr Clarkson were actually thinking of setting up a running club, how would you feel about being a part of that?"

Evie nodded. "Yeah, whatever."

"Oh, drop the tough girl act, Eves. I can tell how your face lights up when you run."

"Yeah, it's okay." Evie tried biting the corner of her lip, but failed and a smile emerged. "Actually, I love it. I feel so free."

Nikki beamed at her. "We'll get your stamina up and then you'll be able to run like that all the time. Come on, let's do a couple of laps of the park and then we'll get you home." The park was mostly deserted aside from a couple of dog walkers and one other runner. They ran without speaking, and it was a comfortable silence. Seeing Rachel's house in the distance as they started jogging out of the park, Evie turned to Nikki,

"Race ya." She ran at lightning speed, barely giving Nikki a chance to catch up, banged on Rachel's front door, and was inside before Nikki had even reached the driveway. Evie darted past Rachel and collapsed in an exhausted heap on the sofa. Nikki followed, leaning on Rachel's front door to catch her breath.

"Everything okay?" queried Rachel.

Nikki took a few more breaths, signalling to Rachel to wait. "She can't half run. Jeez, watch out for that one." Rachel laughed, beckoning Nikki inside and going to the living room to see an exhausted Evie slowly getting her breath back to normal.

"Good run?" Rachel teased.

"Yeah. Nice to be running for the sake of running, rather than away from someone." Evie caught Nikki's eye and they laughed quietly, remembering their conversation from earlier.

"You're really talented, Evie." Nikki said. "You gonna come along to the running club?" Evie nodded. "Me and Mr Clarkson are having a planning meeting about it next week, if you'd like to come along?" Normally, Evie would have run a mile at spending even more time outside school with teachers, but she found herself accepting the invitation before she had a chance to think.

"Great. Well, it's on Tuesday at lunchtime, but I'll see you in form before then."

"Would you like to stay for breakfast, Nikki?" Rachel offered.

"No, it's okay. I need to get back home. See you soon, Evie?"

Evie waved goodbye, still regaining her energy. Rachel saw Nikki out the door and came back into the living room.

"Ready for some breakfast?" Evie nodded, following Rachel into the kitchen and perching on a stool at the breakfast bar. Rachel presented her with a big bowl of fruit, muesli and yogurt, which Evie nibbled appreciatively. Rachel sipped her own black coffee, fiddling with her necklace.

"What?" grunted Evie. Rachel sighed.

"Okay. Um, Evie, while you were out, the police called. Your foster parents have both been arrested and have been remanded in custody. And so has your foster dad's brother."

"Oh."

"I know it's a lot to take in, but this means that the police believe you, and that you are safe." Evie bit her lip, fighting back the tears of relief.

"Anyway, they said we've got the all clear to go round and pick up your things. Sian, the PCSO, she's going to come with us to make sure everything's okay. We can go whenever you like."

"Well, we may as well get it over and done with." Evie snapped, pushing her half-finished bowl of muesli away.

"Are you sure? We don't have to go today, you know. If you want a bit of time to get your head around it?"

"No, it's fine. I just wanna get on with it."

"Okay, well why don't you go and get dressed and I'll give Sian a call."

"Fine." Evie practically stormed out of the kitchen and stomped loudly up the stairs. Rachel let her head fall into her hands, wishing she knew what to say to get through to her.

Half an hour later, Rachel called upstairs to Evie to announce that Sian was here, having called her after Evie had gone upstairs. Evie trudged downstairs, not saying a word to either woman, and let herself into the police car.

"Don't you need some bags, Evie?" Rachel called after her.

"Didn't bother unpacking." shouted Evie, slamming the car door.

Rachel turned to Sian. "Sorry about her, I think she's just really nervous about going back."

"It's no problem. It's understandable that she'd be nervous. Come on, let's get it out the way for her." Rachel picked up her long black coat and her house keys, and followed Sian out to the car.

"Do you want me to sit in the back with you?" Rachel asked Evie.

"Don't care." Evie retaliated. Rachel took this as a signal to sit in the front next to Sian.

It was a short drive from Rachel's house to Evie's foster parents. They lived in a fairly reputable location, but it was once Sian let them inside that things looked different. Beer cans and takeaway cartons littered the hallway, and there was a definite smell of weed.

"Oh, Evie…" muttered Rachel, shaking her head at the surroundings.

"It's fine." Evie made her way upstairs, dodging discarded items as she went, and Rachel followed her.

"I'll wait downstairs. Shout if you need me." said Sian.

Rachel heard shuffling coming from one of the bedrooms, and creaked open the door. Like the rest of the house, the bedroom which she believed to be Evie's was dirty and smelt of damp. There was a tiny window which barely let the light in, and three bin bags loaded with Evie's possessions. Evie paid no attention to Rachel as she entered the room, and continued to gather up the last of her things.

"Here, let me help you with those." offered Rachel.

"I'm FINE!" shouted Evie. "I just want everyone to leave me the f*ck alone!" Rachel stepped back, taking a moment to calm down.

"Okay, okay. You want to be left alone. At least let me carry a bag downstairs?" Evie picked up all three bin bags, storming past her. Sighing, Rachel gave Evie a few moments to get ahead of her, knowing Sian wouldn't let her do anything silly, and came downstairs herself.

When they arrived back at Rachel's house, Evie dumped her bags at the bottom of the stairs and charged up to her room. Slamming the door behind her, she finally allowed the tears to flow, pushing her head into the pillow so she wouldn't be heard. She couldn't stop the tears from flowing freely from her broken eyes, which bordered on hysterical. Her throat became choked and her lungs heavy from swallowing mucus, a by-product of her best efforts to keep quiet. Panicking, she tried to cough quietly, but ended up choking herself more.

Downstairs, Rachel was having a quick look through Evie's thinks, judging how much could stay and how much needed to go. She planned on making herself a cup of coffee before attempting to tackle Evie, but was distracted by the sound of choking coming from upstairs. Listening intently at the bottom of the stairs first, Rachel ran up the stairs and into Evie's room to find the young girl's face tear-stained and broken. She hadn't noticed Rachel come in, and carried on crying and coughing into her pillow.

"Evie…"

"Go away!" cried Evie through her tears. "Leave me alone, please just go away."

"No." Rachel said softly. "I'm staying here." She sat on the bed next to Evie, placing a supportive hand on her back.

"I can't breathe properly." coughed Evie.

"Come on, sit up love, I think you're having a panic attack. Come on, it's okay." Rachel helped pull Evie into a sitting position and rubbed her back gently. She reached across to the bedside table and passed Evie a box of tissues.

"Blow your nose; get everything out." Evie blew her nose, tears still falling down her face, the memories desperate to escape from inside. Rachel kept a hand on her back, stroking it with her thumb.

"Rachel… I… I'm so so sorry… I've been a total cow… I'm so sorry…" Evie gasped.

"Shhh shh shh, it's okay. I'm sorry I put you through all that, maybe it was too soon."

"No, it's okay, I had to do it. I just hated being back there, it was horrible." Evie broke into fresh tears and Rachel pulled her into a hug. Evie fell into her, and cried into her chest. Rachel held her closely, rocking her and stroking her hair, damp from sweat and tears.

"You know I see through all of this, Evie." said Rachel, as Evie's tears eventually began to subside. "I see through this defence. But you don't have to be like that around me. You know, I'd much rather you were open and honest about how you're feeling than to keep bottling it up like this."

"Yeah, well don't you think I wish it was that easy?" Evie half-snapped, half-mumbled. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I understand this is hard for you. But you know I'm here for you, love. Me, Nikki, Sian, we all want to help you." Evie felt a warm glow when Rachel called her love. "Come on, why don't you get yourself cleaned up and we can go through some of your things." Evie nodded, and slowly came away from Rachel's arms. She smiled to herself. Maybe she would give this emotions thing a shot.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Hi guys. I'm aware that my chapters are getting longer and longer! I've been stuck in a headspace of having write where 1 day = 1 chapter. I'm going to try and work on that so that I'm not taking ages between updates. Thanks for all your support 3

It was Sunday night, and both Evie and Rachel were aware. Rachel was cautious of upsetting Evie, and Evie didn't want to bring it up in case Rachel tried to start a deep conversation about it. Eventually, Rachel decided to ask Evie how she was feeling after they'd finished dinner.

"Fine." she snapped back. Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"It's okay to not be fine, you know."

"I know, but I am, so can we drop it now?" Rachel resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Okay. But you know you can talk to me about anything? Anytime, okay? Even if it's three in the morning."

"Yeah... I am trying with the whole emotions thing, Rachel. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. Just know I'm here for you, okay?" Evie nodded.

"Come on, why don't you get yourself a shower and an early night?" Evie took herself upstairs to shower, and when she came out, she found Rachel sat on the chair in her room with two mugs of hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows, and biscuits.

"What's this for?" asked Evie.

"I just thought it might help you calm down a bit before bed. I know you're scared about being back at school." Evie thought about protesting, but decided to give in.

"Thank you." Scooping her hair into a messy, damp bun, and wearing the pyjamas Rachel had given her, she half sat, half lay on the bed, propping herself up with her elbow.

"School will be okay, you know. I'm the headteacher, I can't let you not be okay, it's kind of against the law."

"Yeah, but... Well, I don't want to go back. I don't have any friends, everyone hates me and no offence, that's not going to get any better living with the headteacher."

"I can understand that. Kids like Rhiannon, they've got their own past, and sometimes they just use other people as a defence, especially if they see themselves in them."

"I just haven't made the best start, have I?"

"No, maybe not. But it's never too late. Why don't you try and see tomorrow as a fresh start? I'm sure something's bound to have happened over the weekend that'll have got them all distracted."

"Yeah, maybe. I just can't stand people starting on me."

"Well, I want you to do the right thing and walk away from it if they do. Come and find me or Nikki,, or Kim, or go and sit in the cooler if you can't find us."

"I'll try."

"Good girl." Evie's heart felt warm. "Can I check your arms quickly? The nurse said I need to." Evie rolled up her sleeves, sighing.

"See? I'm all good." she chirped sarcastically.

"Okay. You tell me if you're not, okay?" Evie nodded.

"Night, Rachel."

"Goodnight, love. Sleep well." Rachel closed the door gently as Evie snuggled into bed. The maternal love she felt for this girl in such a small space of time consumed her, and she wished more than anything she could take her pain away.

The next morning, Evie didn't set an alarm on purpose, hoping that she could sleep through the day. Unfortunately for her, Rachel saw through this, and was in Evie's room at 6:30am, opening the curtains a crack to let some light in. She sat on Evie's bed and stroked her cheek softly.

"Come on, Evie. Time to get up." Evie began to wake, feeling fuzzy and warm at being woken in such a gentle way.

"I don't feel very well." croaked Evie. Of course, she was faking it, and they both knew it. Rachel put a hand on Evie's forehead.

"You feel fine. I know you don't want to go in, but you have to go sooner or later, and the longer you leave it, the harder it'll be to go. It's Monday morning, they'll all be talking about Bolton's latest party or what gig they went to at the weekend."

"Can I go tomorrow?" Evie whined, like a child.

Rachel sighed. "No, love. Just give it another chance?"

Evie groaned, sliding her legs out of bed. Clean uniform was neatly folded on the chair by her desk, a chair that was gradually beginning to accumulate other bits of laundry, pencils and her school books.

"Downstairs in twenty minutes for some breakfast, okay?"

"I still don't do breakfast!" called Evie, as Rachel turned left out of the door and onto the landing.

"You do now!" Rachel called back, teasingly. Evie huffed and begrudgingly shuffled over to the bathroom to change and wash her face. Running the brush Maggie gave her through her hair, she scooped it into a ponytail with a bobble she found on the desk, supposedly left over from Rachel's sister's last visit, and went downstairs. A plate of toast, one piece with butter and Marmite, and one with strawberry jam, awaited her at the breakfast bar, along with a cup of tea. Rachel stood at the dining table, shuffling papers into her bag whilst Evie picked at the toast. Without realising it, she'd eaten everything on her plate, and realised it was the first full meal she'd finished in a long time. Noticing the time, Rachel called Evie to the car, and the pair drove towards school.

"New day, Evie." Rachel stated, as they parked in the headteacher's spot. "New day, new week, and I know it's not going to be easy, but please try? For me?"

Evie looked away, at the threatening groups of teenagers that looked like a battleground to her, turned back to Rachel, and nodded.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Evie entered the school a few steps ahead of Rachel, not wanting to draw attention to having come in with the head. It was early, so the corridors were still somewhat deserted, with most of the students still outside. Evie went straight to her form room, sat in the back corner, and read her book. Her leg bounced up and down despite no immediate threat.

The first person to enter the form room was Scout, whose deodorant Evie had taken a few weeks previously. Great, she thought. Someone else with a grievance against me has to be the first person I encounter on my first day back.

Scout came towards Evie's table, and Evie became rigid.

"It's alright, I'm not here to have a go." Scout announced in her thick Northern accent. "I just came to see how you were doin'. I heard you haven't been very well."

How that had got out, Evie didn't know. But she played along with it.

"Er, yeah, had a bad cold."

"Urgh, tell me about it. You left the school house right before everyone came down with this horrid cough. Lucky escape." Scout, to Evie's surprise, had thrown her bag under the table and sat next to Evie. "So what's it like staying with Miss Mason? Is she dead strict at home?"

Evie jumped.

"Look, you don't know me, you don't know anything, so just back off, alright?" Evie almost shouted.

"Alright, alright, keep your hair on. I were only askin' because I had to stay with Mr Mead once, before I got put in care. He don't work here no more, but he were ace." Knowing that Scout had been in a similar situation to Evie made her calm down. Care kids got each other in a way no others did.

"Yeah, she's alright, I suppose. You know, she looks after me and that. I don't think it will be for long though. I'm never in a place for long."

"Oh, don't say that. You never know, you might become Miss Mason 2.0!" Evie rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Don't worry about Rhiannon. I'll sort her out for you."

"Thanks." Evie mumbled. At that moment, more teenagers came pouring into the classroom, as the bell had just gone. Nikki followed behind them, spotting Evie in the corner with Scout and nodded at her.

"Ugh, what's _she_ doing back?" sneered Rhiannon.

"Oi, back off, yeah? Like you've had it easy." Scout snapped.

"What's it to you?" Rhiannon retaliated.

"Alright, calm down girls." Nikki called. "No form time activities today so can you quietly get on with some homework or some reading please?" The class began to shuffle their bags, looking for books and homework. Rhiannon glanced aggressively at Scout and Evie.

"She'll get over it eventually." Scout whispered to Evie. "She just doesn't like someone else having all the attention."

"I'm not trying to get attention!" Evie hissed.

"I know that. But she doesn't." Scout smiled. "What have you got next?"

"Science with Mrs. Diamond."

"Me too. Kacey's in that class too, she's dead nice. We'll look out for you." Evie felt comforted at knowing she was no longer alone in the school, as did Rachel when she walked past Scout, Kacey, Jade Fleming and Phoenix Taylor all sitting together at lunch, laughing, with Rhiannon nowhere to be seen. She thought about going over to them, but decided she'd stay out of the way and let Evie be a normal teenager, even if it was just for a few hours a day. Rachel thought back to when she was Evie's age, and how school was her escape. If she could provide that for Evie too, she'd be doing her job right, and fulfilling the reason she came into teaching.

At the end of the day, Evie skipped up the stairs to Rachel's office, feeling like a child coming home from her first day at school, as it had gone so much better than expected. She knocked on the door and burst in, interrupting the conversation between Rachel and her maths teacher, Mr Lawson.

"Sorry, sir. I'll go." Evie mumbled.

"No, it's okay. Eddie, can we catch up in the morning?"

"Sure thing." He turned to Evie. "See you in maths tomorrow, Evie." Closing the door behind him, Evie returned to the smile she'd walked in with.

"So, how was your first day back?" Rachel queried.

Evie beamed. "It went so much better than I thought! Rhiannon tried to start on me, but I've got people backing me up." Evie said proudly.

"Oh, I'd better watch out then!" Rachel joked. "Just be careful, okay? You know, what with the gangs you used to be in."

Evie burst out laughing. "Rachel, please, can you imagine me, Scout, Kacey and Phoenix in a gang? We'd be awful!" They carried on chatting and sharing stories from their day until they got into the car.

"How would you feel about going out to do a bit of shopping?" Rachel suggested. "I hope you don't mind, but I had a look through your things." She waited for Evie to snap and get defensive, but it didn't come. "They're all a bit grubby and the wrong size, and I thought it might be nice for you to have some new things. How does that sound?"

"Yeah, good, but, like, I don't have any money." Evie stuttered.

"I know. My treat."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Evie, you need to remember that you've been through some horrible things. People want to look after you now, so let them. I know that's difficult for you, but let's try it out. Let me look after you, and if you hate it that much, I can turn into Miss Mason when she's on cooler duty at the drop of a hat."

Evie laughed. "Okay."

After two hours of spending a small fortune, armed with several overloaded bags from H&M, Urban Outfitters and Topshop, Rachel suggested Evie went to Starbucks to get a coffee while she went to buy something to have for dinner that night. Evie agreed, and sat in the coffee shop with the bags, reading a book until Rachel returned with some ingredients to make lasagne that evening.

"Want a hand putting these new things away?" Rachel offered, entirely expecting Evie to say no.

"Yeah, if you're not busy?" Rachel shook her head and helped Evie carry some of the many bags upstairs. They laughed together at how ridiculously oversized some of her clothes from her past were, and Rachel was proud that Evie was able to be more herself every day.

Whilst Evie was engrossed in taking the labels off some new sweaters, Rachel disappeared downstairs, and returned with a small box wrapped in silver paper.

"Evie?" Rachel said quietly from the doorway.

"Yeah?" Evie was still too focused on hanging clothes to look up.

"I got you something, while you were having coffee."

Evie turned around and saw Rachel holding out the small, rectangular box. She took it gingerly.

"You can open it."

Slowly, she started to peel away the paper. Inside was the brand new Samsung Galaxy S10 phone. Immediately, Evie's eyes began to pool with tears.

"It's okay if you don't like it, I can take it back. I just thought you might need one, now you're a bit more settled." The tears that had pooled had begun to spill down her cheeks, and Evie was shaking.

"Hey, hey. What's wrong?" Rachel put an arm around Evie.

"I'm sorry… it's just, I can't remember the last time somebody gave me a present. Why have you done this? Like, why do you care so much?"

Rachel squeezed Evie that bit tighter and put the side of her head against Evie's.

"Because you've been through so much, and do you know what? I can see a lot of myself in you. I want you to start having the life you deserve, and I will do my best to help make that happen." The pair stayed held together for a moment, and then Rachel pulled away, stroking a stray piece of Evie's hair behind her ear.

"Come on. Let's go and get some dinner on, and we'll have a look at setting up your phone. And then we could watch a film, how about the sequel of that God-awful Pitch Perfect film?"

Evie laughed. "Yeah, okay."

Evie turned to look at her newly filled wardrobe in the bedroom that Rachel had provided for her. Smiling, she switched off the light and followed Rachel downstairs.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

**FYI - the Karen in this story *is* Karen Fisher! I love her character and wanted to bring her in somewhere.**

A week had passed since Evie's first day back. She was settled, and had formed friendships with several people in her year. Scout, Jade, Phoenix and Kacey stuck together, and Emily James and Rhona and Shona Mansfield tagged along some days. Evie felt like a normal teenager, bar her slightly abnormal living situation.

"Evie?" Rachel called upstairs one Wednesday evening. "Can you come downstairs please?"

Evie put down the book she was reading, although she was supposed to be doing her History homework. Appearing in the living room doorway, she noticed Rachel sat on the sofa, looking tense.

"Sit down, love."

"What's happened?" Rachel took a deep breath and put a hand on Evie's knee.

"I had a phone call from your social worker today."

"Right…"

"And, well, there's no easy way to say this, but she wants you moved to somewhere more permanent with approved foster carers."

"What?!"

"I know, I know, I'm as upset about it as you are." Evie had leapt to her feet, and stood over Rachel.

"No! No, you don't know sh*t about how I feel! You know what those last foster carers put me through and now you're kicking me out?!"

"Evie, I'm not kicking you out, I don't want you to go either. You've made so much progress here."

"And now you've just got sick of me like everyone else does! Do you know what? I actually f*cking liked it here. I thought you gave a toss. But you don't! You're just like all the others. Wanting to save the poor kid in care and when it gets too much you chuck me out!" Tears were filling Evie's eyes, which she fought back.

"You never really cared about me! If you did then you wouldn't let them take me away from you." Seeing how these words stung Rachel, Evie ran upstairs, slammed her bedroom door, and put her headphones in.

Rachel stayed downstairs, giving Evie some time to cool off. She too felt upset - Evie had come into her life so quickly and suddenly she couldn't imagine life without a stroppy teenager stomping around, relying on her the way she did. Picking up the phone, she dialled a familiar number.

"Hello?"

"Hi Maggie, have you got a minute?"

"Sure." Rachel explained the whole situation to Maggie. "Poor lamb."

"I know. And, I know it's a big ask, but I wondered if you'd be willing to take her at the school house again? I just think going back into foster care is too much for her and I can't put her through all that again."

"I'm really sorry, Rachel, I can't, not with the history between her and Rhiannon. I can't put the kids through the fighting again, it's not fair on them or us." Rachel sighed, disheartened.

"Okay. No, I understand. Thanks anyway." Hanging up the phone, Rachel put her head in her hands. She decided to walk past Evie's bedroom and see how she was doing. As she approached, she heard the faint sound of sniffing. She knocked softly on Evie's door.

"P*ss off!" Evie shouted.

"Evie…" Rachel rested her head against the door. "I'm so, so sorry. You must think I'm horrible, but I promise I don't want this either."

"Please can you leave me alone." Evie mumbled, just loud enough for Rachel to hear. She waited for a moment, then replied.

"I'll be downstairs when you need me."

Heading back downstairs, Rachel found her handbag and dug around for the card Evie's social worker had left for her. She dialled the number, not expecting a response as it was late in the evening.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is that Karen?"

"Speaking."

"Hi, Karen, it's Rachel, who looks after Evie Thistle. I was wondering if you had some time to chat about her?"

"Go ahead."

"Well, I know you're requesting for Evie to be moved to a more permanent foster placement, but I was wondering if there's anything at all I can do in terms of her staying with me. She's made so much progress since being with me and I can't bear to be the one to set her back. I mean, is there anything I can do at all?"

"Well, if you're serious about her staying with you long-term, we could look at putting a special guardianship order through. She's already in your care so it would be more straightforward, and I can make sure she isn't sent to a new placement while the application's ongoing. How about I come and have a chat to you both tomorrow, separately, to see what Evie thinks?" Rachel bit back a huge smile.

"That would be wonderful. We're both at Waterloo Road all day."

"I'll come by in the afternoon. I'll speak to Evie first and then I'll come and have a chat with you." They said goodbye and Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. Nothing was certain, but this gave her hope. She decided not to say anything to Evie just yet, as she didn't want to get her hopes up for them to be dashed again.

The next morning, Evie didn't say a word to Rachel, and acted like she wasn't there. The car journey was stiff and awkward as they arrived at school.

"Your social worker's coming to have a chat with you this afternoon, Eves. Be nice, okay?"

"Whatever…" she mumbled, stepping out of the car and slamming the door. Taking a moment to regain her composure, Rachel let her get a few paces ahead before exiting the car herself and walking up to her office.

"I hate her!" Evie screamed, barging into Nikki's classroom, which was empty other than Nikki marking some exercise books.

"Woah, calm down, tiger. What's happened?" Nikki put her chewed red biro down.

"Rachel, she thinks she can just get rid of me and palm me off on someone else! Why was I naive enough to think this might actually work out?!" Evie kicked a table, then sat at a chair behind it.

"Evie, calm down." Nikki said sternly. "Take a few deep breaths." Evie took some shaky, angry breaths. "Start from the beginning, and tell me what's happened."

"Apparently the social want me at a long-term placement so they want to move me out of Rachel's. And I don't even get a say in it…" Her voice tailed off as she swallowed down some threatening tears.

Nikki crouched at Evie's table, passing her a tissue from her desk. "Now, I'm sure Rachel won't let this happen without a fight. Have you tried talking to her about it?"

Evie snorted. "What's the point? She's just gonna ditch me like everyone else."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"Karen, my social worker, she's coming to see me today. I just know she's gonna tell me I'm moving."

"You don't know that. Come on." Nikki stood up and stretched. "We've got twenty minutes before registration. Wanna come and shoot some hoops?" Evie nodded slowly, and followed her form tutor towards the gym. They grabbed a ball each and spent twenty minutes throwing the balls into the basketball hoop, Evie more aggressively than Nikki.

The day passed slowly for Evie. She didn't know what time her social worker was coming, and jumped every time she heard a click of heels, a door opening, or someone calling her name. It was 2pm before Karen knocked on the door of Evie's Maths lesson with Mr Lawson.

"Hi, could I borrow Evie for a while please?"

"Er, yeah. Evie?" He called the girl's name, who was already on her feet. She followed her social worker down to the Pastoral Care office.

"Come to take me away, have you?" Evie snapped, before Karen had a chance to speak.

"No, I just wanted to have a chat with you about how you're doing." Evie sank into the sofa and tapped her foot.

"Fine, until I found out you're kicking me out of Rachel's."

"Nobody said they're kicking you out, Evie. I know that's how it must feel, but we're on your side."

"Bullsh*t." Evie mumbled.

"So, do you like living with Rachel?"

"Yeah, but turns out that was all a waste now you're making me move." Karen decided to ignore Evie's snapping and carry on with her questions.

"What's your favourite thing about living with Rachel?" Evie stared at her, trying to establish her motive.

"Well… she seems like she actually cares, you know? Like, she makes sure I've eaten, and when I was in hospital she stayed with me. I've never really had someone like that before."

"And how does living with Rachel make you feel?"

"I don't know… safe, maybe? Like, I sometimes forget about all the stuff I've been through. And she doesn't get bothered by it. Well, I thought she didn't."

Karen looked at her sympathetically. "I know you must hate us all right now. But please remember, I want to help you, we all do."

Evie rolled her eyes.

"Anything else you want to tell me?" Evie bit her lip.

"Just… please don't take me away from her." she spoke, barely above a whisper. Karen placed a hand on her knee.

"Go on, get yourself back to class. Call if you need anything."

Evie trudged back down the corridor to Maths, whilst Karen took the stairs to Rachel's office.

"Hi Karen." Rachel called, as she saw her coming upstairs. Karen had barely entered the office before she started speaking.

"Right, I've spoken to Evie and there's no way I'd feel comfortable moving her now I've seen how settled she is. I've never seen her speak so positively about an adult before, she doesn't usually trust them. If it's okay with you, I'm going to push for a special guardianship order and have it implemented immediately. Obviously I'll have to come over at some point and do all the necessary checks on the house, but I think moving her now would be massively detrimental to her recovery from all of this. How do you feel about this?"

Rachel broke out into a beaming smile. "That's absolutely amazing. Oh Karen, thank you so much. I've seen so much positive change in her since she's been staying with me and I think you're completely right, I don't want to unsettle her."

"Great, so shall I come over next week and do the checks? I can't see it being a problem at all though, what with your headteacher's salary."

"Thank you. Thank you so much. Evie's going to be over the moon about it."

"Shall I leave it to you to break the news?"

"Yes please." They chatted for a bit longer until the end of day bell rang and Karen left. Rachel was dying to go and find Evie to tell her, but knew if she left now she wouldn't be there when Evie came to find her. She paced up and down the office, unable to sit still.

Shortly after the bell rang, Evie trudged into the office and slumped on the sofa.

"Not got rid of me yet then? Surprised the social worker didn't take me away today." she sighed. Rachel felt the edges of her mouth starting to form a smile.

"Well that would have been silly of them, given you're staying with me from now on."

"What?!" Evie gasped.

"Karen came to see me today too. She's putting in a special guardianship order so you can stay with me. She's got to do all the checks and everything, but you're not going anywhere. Not if I have anything to do with it."

Evie squealed and ran over to Rachel, hugging her tightly. Neither of them could fight back tears of happiness, and Rachel was first to wipe Evie's away.

"You didn't want to get rid of me!" Evie said, her voice muffled as she was still being held by Rachel.

"Of course not, lovely. I would never want to get rid of you. No matter how much you push me away sometimes, and push the boundaries, I'll never be getting rid of you." Evie giggled.

"Come on, let's go home and pick up a pizza on the way."

That evening, they ate copious amounts of pizza and watched a film. By the end of the film, Evie was asleep on Rachel's shoulder.

"Hey, sleepy. You gonna get up so you can go to bed?"

"Mmm… five more minutes." Evie mumbled. Rachel laughed.

"Come on, you. Let's get you up to bed." Rachel supported a sleepy Evie on the way upstairs, helping her into bed and tucking her in. She stroked her hair softly, and whispered goodnight.


End file.
